Hiroshima and Osaka Day Trip

SMS and I headed out on Saturday morning to Hiroshima.  We took the bus to the Peace Park, which was pretty easy and cheaper than a cab.  I like re-visiting places because I learn better ways to do things.  After wandering the park, we decided to get some lunch before the museum.  We walked to the covered shopping area that's very close to Peace Park.  I wanted to go to the okonomiyaki place that I had been to before.  We found it and it was just as good as ever.  We sat at the bar so we ate our okonomiyaki right off the grill.

Deliciousness in action!

I was also very excited to see that the okomiyaki place was next to Okonomimura, okonomiyaki-town! I don't think it's part of the official "town" since it's not in the building but it is right next to it.  I was so happy that I had inadvertently found Okonomimura since I read about it when I was here with Mom and Dad but didn't realize that I was already there!

Then, we walked back to the Peace Park and walked through the museum.  After the museum, we headed to the train station to catch the Shinkansen to Osaka.

Osaka was an unplanned stop but I'm so glad we went.  The skyline is super-cool and it's a neat mix of futuristic buildings with gardens built in wherever they can fit.  There were ground-level gardens, 7th floor promenades that reminded us of the High Line in New York and the highest garden at 40 stories in the Sky Building.

Sagoy!

The Umeda Sky Building was awesome.  We went up to the Floating Garden on the 39th and 40th floor.  We were outside and it was such a beautiful afternoon with incredible views.  The anti-jumper protection is actually set away from the circular deck so you can look out across the horizon without having glass or wires directly in your way.  I even saw the building with a highway overpass through it so I thought that was super cool!

We also came across a Japanese Oktoberfest with the coolest Japanese yodeler.  She's amazing.  Apparently, she's been on Japanese TV and commercials too- a national treasure!

After that fun, we hopped on the train and headed home.  We got back around 10 and we're definitely ok with not traveling for a little while!  Time to make our apartment feel like home!